Katie’s Corner April 2010: Easter Special

On the 5th February 2007 at 9am my life changed forever. For a few years now I had been working as a care assistant, more recently caring for clients in their own homes, which I loved and I was living independently.

I had been having pain in my knee for four to five years and after visiting various GP’s and Physiotherapists I had been led to believe that this pain was ‘normal’, nothing to worry about and to go home and do my knee exercises. Getting diagnosed with Bone Cancer at 21 was a massive shock for me and my family, but also in a strange way a relief to finally know why I was in pain and hopefully eventually a way to eliminate the pain.

We knew that the treatment would leave me very tired and debilitated and would have a severe impact on my mobility, I was lucky to be able to move back to live with my parents again and receive the support and looking after that I needed. I had no choice but to leave my job as a home care assistant for the foreseeable future. My treatment plan was 40 weeks of chemotherapy and limb salvage surgery, I was to have the chemotherapy at Leeds, St James, about an hour’s drive away, and surgery was in Birmingham, nearly three hour’s drive, luckily I had my Dad to rely on for transport.

It is now three years since I got diagnosed and two years since I finished treatment, my hair has grown back, thinner than what it was but nearly as long as it was before. My leg is getting stronger as time goes on and thankfully the pain I had is now a distant nightmare! A big leap towards independence again was when I passed my driving test two months ago, it gave me a massive confidence boost as well as the option to get out and about without relying on my parents.

My next aim is to live independently again, then hopefully look at getting back to work!